Vehicle operation assistance

ABSTRACT

Embodiments, systems, and techniques for vehicle operation assistance are provided herein. Vehicle operation assistance may be provided by monitoring characteristics of an occupant of a vehicle and determining an emergency status for the occupant based on characteristics of the occupant, transmitting a request for help based on the emergency status indicating the occupant of the vehicle is experiencing an emergency, receiving a “follow me” request from a potential leader vehicle, enabling follower mode such that vehicle is a follower vehicle and the potential leader vehicle is a leader vehicle, establishing a connection with the leader vehicle and receiving navigation instructions from the leader vehicle based on the vehicle being in follower mode, generating driving action commands based on navigation instructions, and executing respective driving action commands in an autonomous fashion based on the vehicle being in follower mode.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to pendingU.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 15/973,687 (AttorneyDocket No. HRA-38494.02) entitled “VEHICLE OPERATION ASSISTANCE”, filedon May 8, 2018, which is a continuation of and claims priority topending U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 14/844,124(Attorney Docket No. HRA-38494.01) entitled “VEHICLE OPERATIONASSISTANCE”, filed on Sep. 3, 2015, which claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/045,887 (Attorney Docket No.HRA-38494) entitled “VEHICLE SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF USING THE SYSTEMS”,filed on Sep. 4, 2014; the entirety of the above-noted application(s)are incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

Drivers, passengers, or other occupants of a vehicle or automobile mayexperience emergencies, such as a medical emergency or suffer fromeffects of a medical condition while driving or operating a vehicle.Such medical conditions may prevent the driver of the vehicle fromoperating the vehicle effectively, performing a driving task or drivingoperation, or reacting in time to a road hazard. As a result, the drivermay pose a risk to him or herself and/or cause an inconvenience orcreate a dangerous scenario for surrounding traffic or other bystanders,such as pedestrians.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

According to one or more aspects, a system for vehicle operationassistance may include a monitoring component, a communicationcomponent, and an assist component. The monitoring component may monitorone or more characteristics of an occupant of a vehicle and determiningan emergency status for the occupant based on one or more of thecharacteristics of the occupant. The communication component maytransmit a request for help based on the emergency status indicating theoccupant of the vehicle is experiencing an emergency and receive a“follow me” request from a potential leader vehicle. The assistcomponent may place the system in follower mode (or enable followermode) such that vehicle is a follower vehicle and the potential leadervehicle is a leader vehicle. The communication component, when infollower mode, may establish a connection with the leader vehicle andreceives one or more navigation instructions from the leader vehicle.The assist component, when in follower mode, may generate one or moredriving action commands based on one or more of the navigationinstructions and execute respective driving action commands in anautonomous fashion.

According to one or more aspects, a method for vehicle operationassistance may include monitoring one or more characteristics of anoccupant of a vehicle and determining an emergency status for theoccupant based on one or more of the characteristics of the occupant,transmitting a request for help based on the emergency status indicatingthe occupant of the vehicle is experiencing an emergency, receiving a“follow me” request from a potential leader vehicle, enabling followermode such that vehicle is a follower vehicle and the potential leadervehicle is a leader vehicle, establishing a connection with the leadervehicle and receiving one or more navigation instructions from theleader vehicle based on the vehicle being in follower mode, andgenerating one or more driving action commands based on one or more ofthe navigation instructions and executing respective driving actioncommands in an autonomous fashion based on the vehicle being in followermode.

The method may include monitoring one or more operating actions of theoccupant of the vehicle and determining the emergency status based onone or more of the operating actions. The method may include enabling anormal mode or an emergency mode based on actuation of a cancel followermode button or a proximity of the vehicle to a destination. The methodmay include transmitting one or more navigation instructions from theleader vehicle to a help center, receiving an intent status from thehelp center based on one or more of the navigation instructions, andcancelling follower mode based on the intent status indicating maliciousintent of a driver of the leader vehicle. The method may includereceiving one or more images of one or more hazards and associated lanelevel locations for respective reported hazards and rendering one ormore of the images based on a distance from the vehicle to one or moreof the lane level locations for respective reported hazards.

According to one or more aspects, a method for vehicle operationassistance may include receiving a request for help based on anemergency status indicating an occupant of a potential follower vehicleis experiencing an emergency, transmitting a “follow me” request,placing a potential leader vehicle in leader mode such that thepotential leader vehicle is a leader vehicle and the potential followervehicle is a follower vehicle based on a response to the “follow me”request, establishing a connection with the follower vehicle,transmitting one or more navigation instructions to the followervehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example component diagram of a systemfor vehicle operation assistance, according to one or more embodiments.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of an example flow diagram of a method forvehicle operation assistance, according to one or more embodiments.

FIGS. 3A-3C are illustrations of an example scenario where a system ormethod for vehicle operation assistance may be employed, according toone or more embodiments.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of an example scenario where a system ormethod for vehicle operation assistance may be employed, according toone or more embodiments.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of an example scenario where a system ormethod for vehicle operation assistance may be employed, according toone or more embodiments.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of an example flow diagram of a method forvehicle operation assistance, according to one or more embodiments.

FIG. 7 is an illustration of an example computer-readable medium orcomputer-readable device including processor-executable instructionsconfigured to embody one or more of the provisions set forth herein,according to one or more embodiments.

FIG. 8 is an illustration of an example computing environment where oneor more of the provisions set forth herein are implemented, according toone or more embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments or examples, illustrated in the drawings are disclosed belowusing specific language. It will nevertheless be understood that theembodiments or examples are not intended to be limiting. Any alterationsand modifications in the disclosed embodiments, and any furtherapplications of the principles disclosed in this document arecontemplated as would normally occur to one of ordinary skill in thepertinent art.

The following terms are used throughout the disclosure, the definitionsof which are provided herein to assist in understanding one or moreaspects of the disclosure.

As used herein, the term occupant may include a driver, passenger, user,or operator of a vehicle or automobile. An emergency may include one ormore different scenarios, such as a medical emergency, a medicalcondition, etc. An operating environment may include one or moreroadways, one or more road segments, one or more other vehicles, one ormore objects, which may be hazards or hazard objects. As used herein,the term “hazard” may include obstacles, obstructions, objects in theroadway, such as other vehicles, animals, construction, debris,potholes, traffic barrels, traffic cones, etc. As used herein, a vehiclegenerally refers to or means a vehicle which is equipped with a systemfor vehicle operation assistance, while other vehicles may or may notnecessarily be equipped with system for vehicle operation assistance.

As used herein, an emergency response vehicle may include leadervehicles, emergency response, such as police, ambulance, firefighters,first aid, volunteer responders, registered responders, subscribers ormembers of a private or trusted network, etc.

As used herein, a leader vehicle may be a responsible vehicle (RV), hostvehicle or host, preceding vehicle, a first vehicle of multiple vehiclesor a group of vehicles, control vehicle, or assistance providingvehicle. As used herein, a follower vehicle may be a virtually hitchedvehicle (HV), following vehicle, a second vehicle of multiple vehiclesor a group of vehicles, compliant vehicle, assistance receiving vehicle.A follower vehicle may ‘tail’ a leader vehicle in a manner as if thefollower vehicle were ‘hitched’ or virtually hitched to the leadervehicle. However, the ‘length’ of the virtual hitch may generally varydue to driving conditions, obstacles, objects, etc. In one or moreembodiments, leader vehicles may be pre-paired with follower vehicles,such as when a group or caravan of vehicles is travelling together.

As used herein, operating actions may include driving actions, turnsignal operations, steering operations, braking operations, accelerationoperations, horn operations, etc. Further, these terms may be usedinterchangeably throughout the disclosure.

As used herein, the term “infer” or “inference” generally refer to theprocess of reasoning about or inferring states of a system, a component,an environment, a user from one or more observations captured via eventsor data, etc. Inference may be employed to identify a context or anaction or may be employed to generate a probability distribution overstates, for example. An inference may be probabilistic. For example,computation of a probability distribution over states of interest basedon a consideration of data or events. Inference may also refer totechniques employed for composing higher-level events from a set ofevents or data. Such inference may result in the construction of newevents or new actions from a set of observed events or stored eventdata, whether or not the events are correlated in close temporalproximity, and whether the events and data come from one or severalevent and data sources.

One or more systems and techniques for providing vehicle operationassistance to an occupant of a vehicle are provided herein. For example,vehicle operation assistance may include emergency assistance to anoccupant of a vehicle experiencing an emergency, such as a medicalcondition (e.g., heart attack, stroke, etc.). A system for vehicleoperation assistance may cause a vehicle to pull over, slow down, orstop in response to detecting an emergency. Further, the system forvehicle operation assistance may initiate contact with a help center,automatically request an emergency vehicle to meet the vehicleassociated with the emergency (e.g., referred to as a follower vehicle),send a leader vehicle to meet up, virtually link, or ‘wirelessly tow’the vehicle to a location, or monitor such ‘wireless towing’ and provideappropriate or corresponding responses in a variety of scenarios. Theleader vehicle or driver of the leader vehicle may thus be empowered toprovide assistance to occupants of the follower vehicle. In this way,vehicle operation assistance may be provided for occupants of a vehicleexperiencing an emergency, who need flat tire help, have lost their way,have requested direction assistance, etc.

Further, one or more systems and techniques for providing hazarddetection or object avoidance are provided herein. For example, when afirst vehicle detects an object or obstacle, the first vehicle maycapture an image or media of the object. This image may be transmitted(e.g., directly or indirectly) to a second vehicle (e.g., in the form ofa warning, a notification, or a precaution) as the second vehicleapproaches or comes within a threshold distance of the object. Thesecond vehicle may display the image of the object and take correctivedriving actions, operating actions, or provide operation assistanceaccordingly. Examples of operation assistance may include providing anautomatic lane change operating action, providing an object notificationor displaying an image or media of an object, etc. In this way, theoperation assistance may facilitate mitigation of traffic congestionfrequently caused by objects in the roadway.

The second vehicle may cross-reference or double check the existence orthe location of the object. If the object is no longer detected in theroadway by the second vehicle, or if a threshold number of vehiclesconfirm the absence of the object, further warnings, notifications, orprecautions with regard to that object may be discontinued. For example,if the object and corresponding location is stored to a database of roadhazard objects, the object may be removed from the database as a resultof one or more other vehicles confirming that no object was detected atthe corresponding (e.g., real world or operating environment) locationfor that object.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of an example component diagram of a system100 for vehicle operation assistance, according to one or moreembodiments. The system 100 for vehicle operation assistance may includea monitoring component 110, an operation component 120, a sensorcomponent 130, a navigation component 140, a storage component 150, acommunication component 160, an interface component 170, and an assistcomponent 180.

The system 100 for vehicle operation assistance may interact with orcommunicate with one or more other systems, such as another system forvehicle operation assistance. In one or more embodiments, this may besystem 190. In other embodiments, system 190 may not necessarily be asystem for vehicle operation assistance. Regardless, in this example,system 190 may include a monitoring unit 112, an operation unit 122, asensor unit 132, a navigation unit 142, a storage unit 152, acommunication unit 162, an interface unit 172, and an assist unit 182.

Further, the communication component 160 of the system 100 for vehicleoperation assistance may facilitate communications with a help center,such as help center 192. According to one or more aspects, the system100 for vehicle operation assistance may be equipped on a second vehicleand the system 190 may be equipped on a first vehicle. As an example,the first vehicle may be a leader vehicle or a potential leader vehicleand the second vehicle may be a follower vehicle, a potential followervehicle, or a vehicle requesting assistance. Further, the system 100,the system 190, and the help center 192 may communicate directly orindirectly with one another (e.g., where one or more of the system 100,the system 190, and the help center 192 may act as an intermediary forcommunications in different scenarios).

The monitoring component 110 may monitor one or more occupants of avehicle, such as a driver of a vehicle, for one or more vital signs orcharacteristics, thereby assessing the health or awareness of thedriver. For example, the monitoring component 110 may measure a bodytemperature, a pulse, a pulse rate or heart rate, a respiration rate,perspiration rate, a blood pressure, eye movement, body movement, headmovement, carbon dioxide output, or other biometric or functionalaspects of a driver of a vehicle. Based on these measurements orreadings, the monitoring component 110 may determine whether an occupantof a vehicle is experiencing an emergency (e.g., an emergency status),and thus requires assistance.

For example, if the heart rate monitor of the monitoring component 110receives a heart rate or pulse rate reading which is outside of apredetermined or predefined window, the monitoring component 110 maydetermine that that occupant is experiencing a heart attack. Otherranges, windows, or thresholds for other readings or measurements may beused to characterize, identify, or define an ‘emergency’ in a similarmanner. As another example, the monitoring component 110 may determinethat a driver of a vehicle has fallen asleep when no eye movement isdetected (e.g., due to the eyes of the driver being closed). In yetanother example, the monitoring component 110 may determine anoperational inability of a driver when a sensor component 130 of avehicle identifies or detects an object or obstacle (e.g., such as anobject located in a collision path of a vehicle) and the driver fails toreact or take corrective driving action within a predetermined timethreshold. In other words, if a driver is in a scenario where it wouldbe expected that the driver would navigate around an obstructionidentified by the vehicle, but does not do so within a threshold timeframe, the monitoring component 110 may determine that the driver isexperiencing an emergency, drowsiness, sleepiness, operationalinability, a medical condition, etc.

Explained in greater detail, and embodied in an example, if the sensorcomponent 130 of the vehicle detects an object, such as a deer or otheranimal in the middle of the roadway, the vehicle is on a directcollision course with the animal, and the driver of the vehicle does notreact according to one or more predefined user initiated operatingactions (e.g., swerving to avoid the animal, braking to slow or stop thevehicle, utter an audible response, such as “Oh no!”, etc.), themonitoring component 110 or the operation component 120 may determineinattentiveness, and thus an emergency. In these or similar scenarios,the monitoring component 110 may determine that an emergency scenario isoccurring or that the driver of the vehicle is experiencing anemergency.

In this way, the monitoring component 110 may determine when an occupantof a vehicle is experiencing an emergency or medical emergency and whento initiate a request for help with a help center 192, transmission of adistress signal, or provide operation assistance, such as an automaticpull over, stop, or slow down operation.

Further, the monitoring component 110 may determine a level of emergencyassociated with an emergency based on a likelihood of survival, whetherthe emergency is life threatening, etc. The level of emergency may beindicative of the urgency of a scenario or a state of an emergency or alevel of emergency response or help to be requested.

The monitoring component 110 may include one or more sensors, such as atemperature sensor, a heart rate sensor, pulse sensor, a breathingsensor, an in-vehicle image capture component, a biometric sensor, etc.

In one or more embodiments, the operation component 120 may monitor oneor more operating actions of one or more occupants of a vehicle, such asa driver of a vehicle. For example, the operation component 120 maymonitor operating actions such as driving actions, turn signaloperations, steering operations, braking operations, accelerationoperations, horn operations, etc. Based on this monitoring, theoperation component 120 may determine whether an occupant of a vehicleis experiencing an emergency, and thus requires assistance. For example,if a driver of a vehicle becomes unresponsive, no operating actions maybe detected over an extended period of time. Accordingly, the operationcomponent 120 may determine an emergency based on an absence ofoperating actions, steering input, etc. from the driver over apredetermined period of time.

In one or more embodiments, an interface component 170 may include anemergency button which a driver of a vehicle may utilize to manuallyinform a help center 192 that he or she requires assistance due to anemergency or that an emergency scenario has occurred. As an example, afirst press of the emergency button of the interface component 170 mayinitiate a request for help, transmission of a distress signal, orchanging of an emergency status, while a second press of the emergencybutton may cause the request for help or distress signal to becancelled. In this way, the interface component 170 may have one or morebuttons which may be utilized to toggle a request for help or anemergency distress signal, for example.

Accordingly, one or more different components of a system 100 forvehicle operation assistance may determine or assess whether a driver oroccupant of a vehicle is experiencing an emergency. In one or moreembodiments, the monitoring component 110 may generate an emergencydetermination based on readings from one or more sensors, inputsprovided to the operation component 120 (e.g., from the driver of thevehicle), or the emergency button of the interface component 170.Accordingly, it can be seen that the emergency determination may begenerated based on a single input or a combination of inputs (e.g., fromthe monitoring component 110, sensor component 130, interface component170, operation component 120, etc.) indicative of when a driver isincapacitated, such as due to health, vision, hearing, awareness, orvital sign issues.

The operation component 120 may receive indication of use of one or moresteering inputs from a driver of a vehicle, such as a steering wheel,automobile or vehicle pedals, such as a brake pedal, clutch pedal,throttle, accelerator, or gas pedal, etc. In other words, the operationcomponent 120 may receive one or more operating actions from the driverof a vehicle. The operation component 120 may monitor other components,such as cruise control systems or sub-systems, an autonomous cruisecontrol (ACC) system, adaptive cruise control, radar cruise control,turn signal indicators, etc.

The sensor component 130 may detect or identify one or more objects,obstacles, hazards, or road hazards and associated or correspondingattributes or characteristics. For example, the sensor component 130 maydetect an object, a speed of the object, a distance of the object fromthe vehicle, a bearing or direction of travel of the object, a size ofthe object, a position or a location associated with the object, such asa lane location, etc.

In one or more embodiments, the sensor component 130 may identify whitelines and hard shoulders of a roadway or road segment to facilitate lanerecognition. Further, the sensor component 130 may identify or classifyan object as another vehicle, a pedestrian, a cyclist, debris, apothole, etc. The sensor component 130 may include one or more radarunits, image capture components, sensors, cameras, gyroscopes,accelerometers, scanners (e.g., 2-D scanners or 3-D scanners), or othermeasurement components.

The navigation component 140 may include a global positioning system(GPS) unit and may detect a location or current location of a vehicle ordetermine a navigation route along one or more road segments for thevehicle.

The storage component 150 may store a location history of a vehicle,such as when a vehicle travels along a proposed navigation route, forexample. Additionally, the storage component 150 may store one or moreimages of objects or obstacles captured by a sensor component 130 of avehicle or one or more images of objects captured by a sensor component130 of another vehicle.

The communication component 160 may facilitate communication between oneor more components or sub-components of the system 100 for vehicleoperation assistance, vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communications, vehicleto help center 192 communications, etc. For example, readings orinformation may be communicated or transmitted using a controller areanetwork (CAN) of a vehicle.

In this regard, the communication component 160 may submit a request forhelp or a help request when one or more other components determines thatthe driver of the vehicle or another occupant is experiencing anemergency, such as a medical emergency, for example. In one or moreembodiments, the communication component 160 may initiate communicationswith a help center 192, which may facilitate or determine one or moreemergency response actions. In other embodiments, the assist component180 of the system 100 for vehicle operation assistance may generate oneor more emergency response actions. In yet other embodiments, thecommunication component 160 and the assist component 180 may receive orgenerate a set of collective emergency response actions in concert or inconjunction with one another.

Examples of emergency response actions may include automatically pullingthe vehicle over or stopping at a ‘safe’ area or location via one ormore automated driving actions, automatically turning on or engaginghazard lights or ‘blinkers’ of a vehicle, automatically navigating viaone or more automated driving actions, requesting ‘wireless towing’ froma leader vehicle, automatically navigating to meet a leader vehicle viaone or more automated driving actions, performing object, obstacle, orhazard detection, mitigation, avoidance, etc.

The communication component 160 may transmit a help request, a requestfor an emergency vehicle, a request for medical emergency assistance, arequest for wireless towing or a leader vehicle, status information,such as vital signs of the driver, vehicle status, vehicle location,vehicle mode, etc. The communication component 160 may transmit orreceive one or more autonomous or automated operating actions from aleader vehicle or another vehicle equipped with another system, such asa system 100 for vehicle operation assistance. In one or moreembodiments, a vehicle equipped with a system 100 for vehicle operationassistance may receive one or more autonomous or automated operatingactions from another vehicle which is not necessarily equipped with asystem 100 for vehicle operation assistance.

In any event, the communication component 160 may include a receiverand/or a transmitter and be capable of communicating, transmitting, orreceiving data, commands, etc., such as one or more autonomous orautomated operating actions, a request for help, a distress signal(e.g., an SOS signal), a request for an emergency vehicle, a request formedical emergency assistance, a request for wireless towing or a leadervehicle, status information, such as vital signs of the driver, healthinformation, vehicle status, vehicle location, vehicle mode, etc., overa network, wireless network, using short range communication techniques,using long range communication techniques, over a cellular network,across a telematics channel, etc. Examples of such communications ortransmissions may include a connection, a wireless connection, vehicleto pedestrian (V2P) communications, vehicle to vehicle (V2V)communications, vehicle to motorcycle (V2M) communications, vehicle tocloud communications, dedicated short range communications (DSRC), etc.

As an example, a vehicle equipped with a system 100 for vehicleoperation assistance may transmit a request for help or a help requestusing a combination of a dedicated short range communications (DSRC) anda cellular network, where the DSRC may be used for V2V help requests andthe cellular network may be used to broadcast a request to a help center192. In this way, the vehicle equipped with the system 100 for vehicleoperation assistance may receive help quickly from responders (e.g.,emergency response vehicles, such as an ambulance or a police car, orleader vehicles) found through either the DSRC or the network. Thus, itcan be seen that the communication component 160 may request help bycommunicating (e.g., directly via V2V) with potential emergency responsevehicles in the general vicinity of the vehicle equipped with system 100for vehicle operation assistance or by communicating (e.g., indirectlyvia a network, wireless network, cellular network, telematics channel,etc.) with a help center 192, which may facilitate further emergencyresponse.

The help center 192 may track the vehicle equipped with the system 100for vehicle operation assistance and associated vehicles, such as leadervehicles which are ‘wirelessly towing’ the vehicle (e.g., whererespective vehicles are in leader mode and follower mode). In this way,a third party may ensure the safety of or provide some level ofoversight over an associated leader vehicle which is commanding or‘towing’ the vehicle equipped with the system 100 for vehicle operationassistance (e.g., a follower vehicle). For example, the communicationcomponent 160 may transmit a location of the vehicle, follower vehicle,or leader vehicle, one or more autonomous or automated operating actionsprovided by the leader vehicle, an anticipated route, an anticipateddestination, one or more vehicle parameters (e.g., speed, velocity,engine temperature, etc.). In this way, the communication component 160may be used to provide safety, assurance, and oversight to occupants ofa vehicle or follower vehicle.

In one or more embodiments, the help center 192 may provide or transmitdata or changes to a route, destination, operating actions, etc. to theleader vehicle or the follower vehicle based on route information, suchas a flooded road segment, traffic patterns, accidents, etc. Forexample, the help center 192 may provide a change in destination if anoriginal destination hospital is booked full or has less capacity than aneighboring hospital. Here, the help center 192 may initiate the routechange directly with the leader vehicle when possible (e.g., if theleader vehicle has a component with a line of communication open withthe help center 192). If the leader vehicle does not have such a line ofcommunication open, the help center 192 may pass the change ofdestination on to the communication component 160 of the followervehicle, which may then use V2V communications to direct the leadervehicle to change route. From this point, the help center 192 maycontinue monitoring of the location of the follower vehicle to ensurecompliance with the change of destination.

In the event that the leader vehicle becomes non-compliant with helpcenter 192 protocol or instructions, the help center 192 may terminatefollower mode on the follower vehicle and engage the vehicle inemergency mode (e.g., associated with an automated stop or automatedpull over).

The interface component 170 may include a display portion and an inputportion. The interface component 170 may receive one or more user inputsfrom one or more users, which may include passengers, drivers,occupants, operators, etc. of a vehicle via the input portion. The inputportion of the interface component 170 may enable a user, such as adriver or occupant, to interact with or provide input, such as userinput, gestures, clicks, points, selections, voice commands, etc. to asystem 100 for vehicle operation assistance.

As an example, the input portion of the interface component 170 may beimplemented as a touch screen, a touchpad, a track pad, one or morehardware buttons (e.g., on a radio or a steering wheel), one or morebuttons, such as one or more soft buttons, one or more software buttons,one or more interactive buttons, one or more switches, a keypad, amicrophone, one or more sensors, etc. In one or more embodiments, theinterface component 170 may be implemented in a manner which integratesa display portion such that the interface component 170 both provides anoutput (e.g., renders content as the display portion) and receivesinputs (e.g., user inputs). An example of this may be a touch screen.Other examples of input portions may include a microphone for capturingvoice input from a user.

Regardless, the interface component 170 may receive a variety of userinputs, such as verbal commands, spoken commands (e.g., utilizing amicrophone or audio sensor), pressing of buttons, activating switches,gesture inputs, such as a swipe, a multi-finger swipes, a pinch andzoom, a touch (e.g., utilizing a touch screen), a press (e.g., viapressure sensors), a press and hold, a selection, a movement of acursor, a click (e.g., utilizing a button, mouse button, a hardwarebutton, a soft button, a software button, track button), etc. In thisway, the interface component 170 may receive one or more user inputs,such as from a user, driver, passenger, or other occupant of a vehicle.

In one or more embodiments, the display portion of the interfacecomponent 170 may render one or more buttons, such as an emergencybutton, a request help button (e.g., manual help button or SOS button),a confirm wireless tow button, etc. for the interface component 170based on an emergency being determined or a request for wireless towingby one or more other components of the system 100 for vehicle operationassistance. In other words, different buttons may appear on, begenerated for, or be rendered for the display portion of the interfacecomponent 170 depending on a mode of the system. Examples of modesinclude normal mode, emergency mode, leader mode, follower mode, meetingmode, etc.

In normal mode, the display portion of the interface component 170 mayrender an emergency button which, when pressed, places the system 100for vehicle operation assistance in emergency mode, and causes thecommunication component 160 to initiate a request for help.Additionally, the display portion of the interface component 170 mayrender images or media of obstructions or objects in the roadway or roadsegment identified by the sensor component 130 or upcoming objectspreviously identified by other vehicles.

In emergency mode, the display portion of the interface component 170may render a variety of information, such as one or more emergencyresponse actions to be taken, estimated time of arrival to adestination, estimated time of arrival of an emergency response vehiclecoming to assist the vehicle, a cancel emergency mode button,destination or route information when the vehicle is being wirelesslytowed by another vehicle, such as a leader vehicle, a terminate wirelesstow button.

When a vehicle is in leader mode, the display portion of the interfacecomponent 170 may render an estimated time of arrival to a destination,update information provided by a help center 192 communicatively linkedwith a follower vehicle (e.g., suggested destination change or routechange), a cancel leader mode button, status information regarding thefollower vehicle or occupants of the follower vehicle, such as vitalsign information, etc. Further, the interface component 170 may enabletelecommunication, such as video chat or voice calls between the leadervehicle and the follower vehicle while in emergency mode (e.g.,requesting a wireless tow or leader vehicle) or leader mode.

When a vehicle is in follower mode, the display portion of the interfacecomponent 170 may render an estimated time of arrival to a destination,update information provided by a help center 192 communicatively linkedwith a follower vehicle (e.g., suggested destination change or routechange), a cancel follower mode button, status information regarding theleader vehicle. Further, the interface component 170 may enabletelecommunication, such as video chat or voice calls between thefollower vehicle and the leader vehicle while requesting a wireless towor during a wireless tow (e.g., while in follower mode).

In meeting mode, the display portion of the interface component 170 mayrender an estimated time of arrival to a destination location associatedwith a leader vehicle, a current location of the leader vehicle, ananticipated and/or route of the leader vehicle to a meeting point, acancel meeting mode button, destination or route information where theleader vehicle will be directed to wirelessly tow the follower vehicle,etc.

Further, when a button is pushed or a command is selected, the interfacecomponent 170 may provide confirmation of the selection or the command.As another example, when a leader vehicle disconnects or terminatesleader mode with a follower vehicle in follower mode based on completionof a wireless tow, or arrival at a predetermined destination location,the interface component 170 may receive confirmation thatleader/follower mode has been terminated for respective leader/followervehicles and that the destination has been reached (e.g., thank you ordisconnect message or signal).

The assist component 180 may determine one or more emergency responseactions when an emergency or emergency scenario is determined by one ormore components of the system 100 for vehicle operation assistance.

Additionally, the assist component 180 may engage other components of avehicle in response to an emergency scenario, such as by automaticallyactivating the hazards or hazard lights while autonomously pulling over,when stopped thereafter, etc. The assist component 180 may determine oneor more emergency response actions based on availability of emergencyresponse vehicles, health conditions of a driver of a vehicle, a statusof a vehicle, traffic conditions, weather, etc. For example, if trafficis congested and a driver's condition is not sensed to be lifethreatening or imminently dire (e.g., based on threshold measurementsfrom the monitoring component 110), the assist component 180 mayautomatically pull the vehicle over or have the vehicle stop at a ‘safe’area or location via one or more automated driving actions andautomatically engage the hazard lights of the vehicle.

During automatic navigation, ‘wireless towing’ from a leader vehicle,‘wireless following’, automatic navigation to meet a leader vehicle, oneor more automated driving actions, etc., the assist component 180 mayperform object, obstacle, or hazard detection, mitigation, or avoidance.For example, when a sensor unit 132 of a leader vehicle detects anobject or obstacle, this information may be transmitted (e.g., directlyor indirectly) to the follower vehicle. Accordingly, the assistcomponent 180 of the follower vehicle may provide one or more operatingactions in response to the detected object. In this way, the assistcomponent 180 may facilitate object avoidance or provide navigationbased on one or more objects detected by the sensor component 130 of thevehicle or a sensor unit 132 or component of another vehicle. A sensorcomponent 130 or unit 132 may include a global positioning system (GPS),exterior sensors, a radar unit, an exterior image capture device, one ormore scanners, etc.

In one or more embodiments, a vehicle equipped with a system 100 forvehicle operation assistance may perform an emergency stop or a pullover in response to or based on a determination of an emergency by oneor more components of the system.

As an example, if the monitoring component 110 determines that anoccupant of the vehicle, such as the driver, is experiencing a stroke,heart attack, sleepiness, drowsiness, inattentiveness, etc. based ondroopy eyelids (e.g., captured by an image capture component or unit),heart rate (e.g., measured by a heart rate monitor or a pulse sensor),inattentiveness (e.g., determined by an absence or lack of steeringinput or user initiated operating actions to the operation component 120over a predetermined period of time or in response to an obstacledetected by the sensor component 130), the monitoring component 110 maydetermine that the driver is experiencing an emergency and have theassist component 180 place the system 100 for vehicle operationassistance in emergency mode.

In one or more embodiments, the operation component 120 may initiateautomatic engagement of hazard lights for the vehicle or other lights,such as daytime running lights, headlights, etc. based on the vehiclebeing in emergency mode.

The assist component 180 may coordinate with one or more othercomponents, such as the navigation component 140 or the communicationcomponent 160, to gather information which may be utilized to determineone or more emergency response actions. For example, the navigationcomponent 140 may receive traffic information associated with a route toa destination, such as a hospital, or traffic information related to anarea or vicinity around the vehicle (e.g., a boundary or radius aroundthe vehicle).

As another example, the monitoring component 110 may provide vital signreadings of the driver, which may be indicative of whether the driver isexperiencing a life threatening emergency or other emergency. In one ormore embodiments, if the driver is not experiencing a life threateningemergency (e.g., determined based on readings from the monitoringcomponent 110), the assist component 180 may generate an emergencyresponse action ordering the vehicle to perform an emergency stop orpull over maneuver. Similarly, if the navigation component 140 orcommunication component 160 receives traffic information indicating thattraffic is congested or may be difficult to autonomously navigatethrough (e.g., based on the speed of the traffic, number of cars orvehicles, number of lanes, lights or stop signs along a route, weatherconditions, time of day, visibility index, etc.), the assist component180 may generate an emergency response action of performing an emergencystop or pull over maneuver.

Upon generation of such an emergency response action, the navigationcomponent 140 may select a location at which the vehicle may stop. Thisarea or location may be an emergency stop area, such as a location whichis associated with low traffic, slower traffic, etc. As an example, thenavigation component 140 may determine the emergency stop area to be ashoulder of a roadway, a rest stop along a highway, a gas station, aparking lot, a parking spot, etc. The navigation component 140 maydetermine or select an emergency stop area based on one or morepredetermined or predefined emergency stop areas and correspondingdistances to the current location of the vehicle, traffic levelassociated therewith, population associated with the emergency stoparea, time of day, etc. For example, the navigation component 140 mayselect an emergency stop area associated with a greater populationdensity than other emergency stop areas, thus increasing the likelihoodthat help will arrive more quickly or that the driver may receiveassistance or be noticed faster.

The sensor component 130 may facilitate selection of an emergency stoparea, such as when a vehicle pulls over to the side of the road. Here,for example, the sensor component 130 may select an emergency stop areabased on visibility to other vehicles, absence of drop-offs or cliffsalong the roadway, presence of a large (e.g., greater than a thresholdamount of) shoulder area, absence of large inclines or elevationchanges, etc. The navigation component 140 may access map data or mapinformation via a telematics channel, cellular network, etc. tofacilitate determination or selection of the emergency stop area in asimilar manner (e.g., the navigation component 140 may avoid stoppingwithin a threshold distance of an intersection, curved road segments,etc.). In this way, the navigation component 140 may select or determineone or more emergency stop areas, thereby providing a ‘safe’ spot forthe vehicle to park or slow down.

The storage component 150 may record or store one or more readings fromthe monitoring component 110, one or more operating actions or drivingmaneuvers associated with the operation component 120, images or mediaof one or more objects detected by the sensor component 130, a locationhistory or route history associated with the vehicle, such as prior toan emergency, during an emergency, while the vehicle is in followermode, etc. Further, the storage component 150 may record or storecommunications, messages, commands, or signals transmitted, received, orcommunicated between the vehicle and other vehicles (e.g., a secondvehicle or a leader vehicle). The storage component 150 may also recordone or more emergency response actions determined by the assistcomponent 180.

The communication component 160 may communicate an emergency stoplocation of a vehicle to a help center 192 before or after the vehiclestops at the emergency stop location.

The interface component 170 may render a message or notificationindicating that the vehicle is performing an emergency stop maneuver orengaging in one or more autonomous driving actions. A confirm buttonand/or a cancel button may be rendered, which enable a user or occupantto confirm or cancel the emergency stop maneuver accordingly. Further,the interface component 170 may render or display an anticipatedemergency stop area, a reason for the emergency stop, an indication ofwhether help (e.g., an emergency response vehicle) has beenautomatically requested, an estimated time of arrival for the emergencyresponse vehicle, a request a leader vehicle button, a request anemergency vehicle button, etc.

The assist component 180 may perform one or more automated operation ordriving actions or maneuvers to the emergency stop area in response tothe vehicle entering emergency mode and the assist component 180determining the emergency stop maneuver as the emergency response action(e.g., and no cancel received from the interface component 170). Theassist component 180 may receive one or more detected objects from thesensor component 130 or map data from the navigation component 140 toautonomously navigate to the emergency stop area based on determinationof an emergency, such as by the monitoring component 110. For example,to execute the emergency stop or slow down maneuver, the assistcomponent 180 may cause the vehicle to change lane, while avoidingobjects, obstacles, or other traffic, and come to a rest at theemergency stop area.

In other embodiments, the assist component 180 may select a slow downmaneuver as an emergency response action, such as when the navigationcomponent 140 may be provided with a suggested destination via thecommunication component 160. For example, the communication component160 may transmit information from the monitoring component 110, such ashealth information related to the occupant or driver of the vehicle, toa help center 192, which may transmit back a suggested destination, suchas a hospital or other medical facility. As a result, the navigationcomponent 140 may automatically engage in turn by turn navigation to thesuggested destination using the assist component 180 and the sensorcomponent 130 to provide one or more automated operation or drivingactions or maneuvers, while mitigating collisions with objects detectedby the sensor component 130.

Here, the interface component 170 may display or render a notificationindicating that the vehicle is performing an emergency slow downmaneuver or engaging in autonomous driving actions associated with asuggested destination. Similarly to the emergency stop maneuver, aconfirm button and/or a cancel button may be rendered, which enable auser or occupant to confirm or cancel the emergency slow down maneuveraccordingly. Further, the interface component 170 may render or displaythe suggested destination, a reason for the emergency determination, anindication of whether help (e.g., an emergency response vehicle) hasbeen automatically requested, an estimated time of arrival at thesuggested destination, etc.

In communication with a help center 192 or another vehicle (e.g.,equipped with a similar system or another system 190 for vehicleoperation assistance), the communication component 160 may transmit orreceive information sensed, detected, or read by one or more componentsof the system 100 for vehicle operation assistance. For example, thecommunication component 160 may transmit heart rate information obtainedfrom the monitoring component 110, steering input information (e.g.,indicative of driver input) received from the operation component 120,images or media of objects captured by the sensor component 130 or imagecapture unit of the sensor component 130, location information (e.g.,lane level information) associated with respective objects, locationhistory from the navigation component 140, communication logs betweenthe vehicle and one or more other vehicles, one or more emergencyresponse actions determined by the assist component 180, etc. In thisway, the communication component 160 may enable the help center 192 tokeep ‘tabs’ on the vehicle, track the status of the vehicle (e.g.,location, destination, vehicle parameters, such as velocity, enginetemperature, etc.), track the status of occupants of the vehicle,provide further assistance, or provide oversight when other vehicles areengaged with the vehicle, such as when a leader vehicle is ‘wirelesslytowing’ the vehicle (e.g., as a follower vehicle).

Thus, the communication component 160 may enable a third party, such asthe help center 192 to make changes or adjustments, thereby providingefficient assistance to the driver. For example, in the event the driveris experiencing a heart attack emergency, the assist component 180 mayinitially determine a route to a first hospital (e.g., such as if aconnection or communication channel is not available), but the helpcenter 192 may reroute the vehicle to a second hospital based on thesecond hospital specializing in heart attack treatment. Thus, thecommunication component 160 may receive communications or adjustmentsbased on a type of emergency the driver or occupant is experiencing andtreatment options available at respective medical facilities. Further,the communication component 160 may inform the help center 192 orrespective medical facilities of the vehicle's pending arrival.

Similarly, the communication component 160 may enable destination orroute changes based on driving conditions, traffic conditions, or otherdata read by one or more of the components of the system.

In one or more embodiments, the communication component 160 may searchfor a leader vehicle to ‘wirelessly tow’ the vehicle as a followervehicle by broadcasting a request for a leader vehicle or a request forwireless towing directly to other vehicles, such as via vehicle tovehicle (V2V) communications. This request may be communicated to one ormore other vehicles (e.g., potential leader vehicles) in the areaequipped with systems capable of leading or ‘towing’ a follower vehicleby engaging in leader mode.

In other embodiments, the communication component 160 may search for aleader vehicle broadcasting a request for a leader vehicle or a requestfor wireless towing over a network, such as a cellular network. In yetother embodiments, the communication component 160 may submit therequest to a help center 192, which performs the searching for thevehicle by blasting out or sending a plurality of requests to othervehicles or potential leader vehicles. However, any combination ofsearching may be utilized. In this way, the communication component 160may locate one or more potential leader vehicles and select a leadervehicle from among one or more of the potential leader vehicles.

The communication component 160 may broadcast a distress beacon, such asan SOS signal to facilitate assistance to the vehicle, such as when thevehicle is stuck or disabled, for example.

In one or more embodiments, the communication component 160 may beconfigured to communicate merely with selected vehicles, such asvehicles which are registered as part of a trusted network or a privatenetwork, for example. In this way, any communications transmitted orreceived by the communication component 160 may be secure. For example,upon determination of an emergency, the communication component 160 maybroadcast a request for a leader vehicle to the private network of oneor more potential leader vehicles, which may respond (e.g., via aninterface unit 172 of the potential leader vehicle). This response maybe received by the communication component 160 of the vehicle andrendered as a notification on the interface component 170.

For example, a third party, such as a security company may operate thehelp center 192, manage registration of potential emergency responsevehicles as part of the private or trusted network. The network may be acommercial network, where a third party may manage subscriptions to thenetwork, and employ a fleet of drivers for potential emergency responseor potential leader vehicles, etc. For example, the fleet of vehiclesmay drive around seeking vehicles in distress or vehicles in need of aleader vehicle. In one or more embodiments, the fleet of vehicles may bea fleet of taxi cab vehicles, which are often already out searching forfares. In this regard, a fee arrangement may be implemented between thethird party, help center 192, driver of the leader vehicle, vehicle orsystem manufacturer(s), etc. For example, the fee arrangement may beassociated with a scale of prices based on factors such as a type ofscenarios, a type of emergency, distance towed, etc.

In one or more embodiments, the fleet of subscribed or registeredvehicles may include emergency response vehicles, such as firefighters,police, or ambulances.

In one or more embodiments, such as when a request a leader vehiclebutton is pressed, when the assist component 180 automatically requestsa leader vehicle, or when the help center 192 initiates a request for aleader vehicle through the communication component 160, thecommunication component 160 may transmit a request for a leader vehicle,such as to the help center 192 or directly (e.g., V2V) to one or moreother vehicles (e.g., potential leader vehicles). Explained another way,the communication component 160 may transmit a request for a responsiblevehicle to assist the occupant of the vehicle by wirelessly towing thevehicle to a location determined based on a type of emergency and alocation of the vehicle. Potential leader vehicles which respond may actas leader vehicles, upon confirmation or successful authentication.

In one or more embodiments, the communication component 160 may filteror select a leader vehicle from one or more of the potential leadervehicles based on a leader score associated with a driver of acorresponding potential leader vehicle or the potential leader vehicle.For example, the leader score may be based on the potential leader'sprevious interactions with other vehicles or other follower vehicles,ratings provided by the help center 192, etc. In this way, thecommunication component 160 may select a leader vehicle based on one ormore leader scores of one or more potential leader vehicles.

Similarly, when a request an emergency vehicle button is pressed, whenthe assist component 180 automatically requests an emergency vehicle, orwhen the help center 192 initiates a request an emergency vehiclethrough the communication component 160, the communication component 160may transmit a request for an emergency vehicle, such as to the helpcenter 192 or directly (e.g., V2V) to one or more other vehicles (e.g.,potential emergency response vehicles) to come meet the vehicle at acurrent location of the vehicle. This may be done when a level ofemergency is high, such as when the emergency is imminent or lifethreatening or when an occupant is in serious or critical condition, forexample.

In other embodiments, the assist component 180 may automatically requestan emergency vehicle based on a location of the vehicle. In other words,if the vehicle is in a rural setting, where few vehicles generallytravel, the emergency vehicle may be requested because the emergencyvehicle would likely provide quicker medical attention than a scenariowhere the vehicle waits for a leader vehicle.

A vehicle (e.g., potential leader vehicle) responding to a request for aleader vehicle may be equipped with a system including an interface unit172, which enables the driver of the potential leader vehicle to notify(e.g., via a communication unit 162) the help center 192 or the vehiclerequesting assistance (e.g., the follower vehicle) that a leader vehicleis on the way.

Upon selection of a leader vehicle and arrival of the leader vehicle toa location associated with the vehicle, the communication component 160may receive a command placing the vehicle in follower mode. For example,this may be automatically performed by the assist component 180 in oneor more embodiments, such as when a level of an emergency exceeds apredetermined threshold or based on an urgency of the scenario oremergency (e.g., data obtained by the monitoring component 110, sensorcomponent 130, or operation component 120 may be indicative or utilizedto calculate or determine such as level of emergency or urgency of ascenario). This command may be transmitted by the help center 192 to thefollower vehicle or by the leader vehicle via V2V communications.

In one or more embodiments, the follower vehicle may verify an identityof a driver of the leader vehicle or the leader vehicle itself (e.g.,via the help center 192 or based on other authentication protocol). Forexample, the help center 192 may transmit a command to place the vehiclein follower mode when the leader vehicle arrives or is within athreshold distance of the vehicle. Similarly, the help center 192 maytransmit a command to the leader vehicle placing the leader vehicle inleader mode based on the leader vehicle being within a thresholddistance of the vehicle.

In other embodiments, the leader vehicle may transmit a request to avehicle requesting the vehicle to be placed in follower mode. Using theinterface component 170, the vehicle (e.g., to be placed in followermode) may accept or decline this request, and the communicationcomponent 160 may respond to the leader vehicle or potential leadervehicle accordingly. Here, the vehicle (e.g., to be the followervehicle) may receive the request (e.g., a “follow me” request) from thepotential leader vehicle, and upon accepting the request, the potentialleader vehicle becomes the leader vehicle and is placed in leader mode,while the vehicle becomes the follower vehicle and is placed in followermode.

The interface component 170 of the vehicle may be utilized to confirm oraccept a “follow me” request in some scenarios, while the help center192, the communication component 160, or the assist component 180 mayautomatically confirm or accept the “follow me” requests in otherscenarios, such as when authentication is performed by the help center192 (e.g., by screening vehicles prior to the vehicle or driver becomingpart of a private network). In one or more embodiments, fee agreementinformation may be presented and accepted prior to engaging in thewireless tow or leader/follower mode, such as when a driver is lost anddesires a tow to a desired destination location. Here, the interfacecomponent 170 may render a fee arrangement such that a driver of avehicle may accept the fee arrangement prior to engaging in the wirelesstowing. The interface component 170 may enable a driver or occupant of avehicle to select from one or more potential leader vehicles in anauction mode or based on a low bid, for example.

In any event, when the vehicle is in emergency mode (e.g., via a manualpress of a request for help button through the interface component 170or as automatically determined by the monitoring component 110), theassist component 180 determines an emergency response action ofrequesting a leader vehicle, a potential leader vehicle is within athreshold ‘tow’ initiate distance from the vehicle, a “follow me”request is received (e.g., initiated by the help center 192 or thepotential leader vehicle), and confirmation of the “follow me” requestis provided (e.g., via the interface component 170 or automatically,such as via the assist component 180 or the communication component160), the vehicle may be placed in follower mode. In this way, theassist component 180 may change or switch a mode of a vehicle equippedwith a system 100 for vehicle operation assistance to a follower mode.

As a result, control of the vehicle in follower mode may be passed tothe leader vehicle, thus enabling the assist component 180 to cause thefollower vehicle to ‘follow’, via wireless towing, the leader vehicle(e.g., within a range of a mile). When a first vehicle is in followermode, a second vehicle in leader mode may command the first vehicle withone or more driving actions, operating actions, driving maneuvers, etc.such that the first vehicle follows the second vehicle, thereby passingcontrol of the first vehicle or the follower vehicle to the secondvehicle or the leader vehicle.

The interface component 170 may display or render a current route,current location, anticipated destination, etc. for occupants of thefollower vehicle. Similarly, an interface unit 172 of the leader vehiclemay display or render a proposed route or otherwise direct the leadervehicle to a destination location, such as a hospital, using anavigation unit 142 of the leader vehicle or the navigation component140 of the follower vehicle. A communication unit 162 of the leadervehicle may enable the help center 192 to monitor the location of theleader vehicle and/or follower vehicle to ensure wireless towing isproceeding as planned and that the leader vehicle is acting in aresponsible fashion.

The assist component 180 may receive a route, one or more navigationinstructions, or path history information associated with the leadervehicle and generate one or more autonomous driving actions or operatingactions accordingly. In other words, the assist component 180 enablesthe leader vehicle to wirelessly ‘tow’ the follower vehicle to anotherlocation using “virtual tow”, V2V “virtual tow”, vehicle to vehicle“virtual tow”, or driver to driver “virtual tow” technology. Explainedanother way, the trailing vehicle or the follower vehicle may utilizedthe assist component 180 to generate one or more driving cues, drivingactions, or maneuvers from the lead vehicle or leader vehicle viaconnected-car or vehicle to vehicle (V2V) technology. This V2Vcommunication may enable a virtual link between the leader vehicle andthe follower vehicle to be formed such that the follower vehicle may‘mirror’ the path of the leader vehicle moments after the leader vehiclehas travelled that same path.

In other words, the assist component 180 of the follower vehicle mayreceive or implement one or more driving action commands or commandsignals from the leader vehicle via the communication component 160,such as using dedicated short range communications (DSRC). In one ormore embodiments, an assist unit 182 of the leader vehicle may utilizenavigation data or map data from a navigation unit 142 and/or steeringinput (e.g., provided by the driver of the leader vehicle) from anoperation unit 122 to generate driving action commands or operatingactions to be transmitted to the follower vehicle via a communicationunit 162 or transmitters of the leader vehicle.

Similarly, the communication component 160 of the follower vehicle mayreceive one or more of the driving action commands or operating actions.The communication component 160 may pass these commands on to the assistcomponent 180 of the follower vehicle, which may implement or executerespective driving action commands or operation commands accordingly.However, the assist component 180 of the follower vehicle may pause,cancel, or modify one or more respective driving action commands oroperation commands based on one or more objects detected by the sensorcomponent 130, thereby mitigating collisions with respective objects. Inthis way, autonomous control of the follower vehicle in follower modemay be provided.

In one or more embodiments, the follower vehicle may communicate withthe leader vehicle via the communication component 160 and thecommunication unit 162, respectively. For example, if the followervehicle is stuck, requires additional assistance, needs the leadervehicle to wait, etc., the communication component 160 may transmitrespective information to the leader vehicle. In this way, respectiveleader and follower vehicles may continuously communicate during awireless tow or while in leader/follower mode. Stated another way, thefollower vehicle may be ‘tethered’ to the leader vehicle during thewireless tow.

In one or more embodiments, a help center 192 may act as an intermediarybetween the two vehicles, such as to facilitate processing of drivingaction commands or to provide oversight on actions taken by the leadervehicle. Further, the leader vehicle may be equipped with a system 100for vehicle operation assistance or another system 190 which enables‘wireless’ towing.

The sensor component 130 and the navigation component 140 may provideinput to the assist component 180 such that the follower vehicle obeystraffic laws and mitigates or avoids colliding into objects or obstacleswhich were not necessarily present when the leader vehicle travelledalong a portion of a path or a roadway. For example, if a light that isgreen when the leader vehicle passes may turn red by the time thefollower vehicle reaches the light. In this scenario, the interface unit172 of the leader vehicle may notify the driver that the followervehicle is falling behind and request the driver of the leader vehiclewait for the follower vehicle. If the leader vehicle continues on, thewireless tow or leader/follower mode may automatically be terminated bythe assist component 180. The sensor component 130 of the followervehicle may identify the red light as an obstacle and have the assistcomponent 180 provide automated braking in response.

In on more embodiments, the wireless tow or leader/follower mode may beterminated for the leader vehicle and follower vehicle, respectively,based on one or more different scenarios, such as when a destination isreached, when one or more of the vehicles or the help center 192 cancelsor terminates the tow, based on one or more inputs from one or moresensors or components of either vehicle, upon detection of maliciousintent associated with one or more of the vehicles (e.g., eitherfollower or leader vehicle), etc. For example, when the leader vehicleand the follower vehicle reach an agreed or anticipated destinationlocation, the virtual tow or wireless tow may be complete, and thus theassist component 180 of the follower vehicle terminate or cancel thewireless tow.

As used herein, a wireless tow may include a scenario where a leadervehicle is in leader mode and a follower vehicle is in follower mode,and respective vehicles are pair together via a communication component160 or a communication unit 162. Further, when any one of the followervehicle, the leader vehicle, or a help center 192 cancel or terminate awireless tow, the assist unit 182 of the leader vehicle may place theleader vehicle in a normal mode or a search for emergency mode.Similarly, the assist component 180 of the follower vehicle may placethe follower vehicle in normal mode or revert to emergency mode based onwhether the wireless tow is complete or the location of the followervehicle. In other words, if the follower vehicle has reached a desireddestination, the assist component 180 may terminate the tow and placethe follower vehicle in normal mode.

In the event that the wireless tow is not proceeding as planned (e.g.,the leader vehicle cannot continue the tow, the leader vehicle is notproceeding to the anticipated or desired destination, due to a manualcancel via the interface component 170, a lost connection between theleader vehicle and the follower vehicle, etc.), the assist component 180may revert the follower vehicle to emergency mode and determine one ormore contingency emergency response actions or one or more otheremergency response actions, such as searching for a new or differentleader vehicle, requesting on site help, broadcasting an SOS beacon,performing autonomous driving to a destination location (e.g., a medicalfacility), etc. For example, the follower vehicle may initiate anemergency stop maneuver at an emergency stop area, request a differentleader vehicle, etc.

In one or more embodiments, the communication component 160 may receiveinformation, such as information from the help center 192, pertaining toavailability of one or more potential leader vehicles in the area. Whenavailability is low or below a threshold number of vehicles, above athreshold estimated response time, etc., the assist component 180 of thevehicle may place the vehicle in autonomous operation mode, therebydirecting the vehicle to engage in one or more automated drivingactions. The communication component 160 may transmit help requests oran SOS signal continually, such as until the vehicle reaches adestination, cancels emergency mode, or is engaged in wireless tow(e.g., leader/follower mode).

In one or more embodiments, the assist component 180 or the help center192 may analyze one or more actions taken by the driver of the leadervehicle or by the driver of the follower vehicle, calculate an intentstatus, and terminate or cancel the wireless tow based on respectiveactions or a malicious intent (e.g., intent status) inferred fromrespective actions. For example, if the leader vehicle deviates athreshold distance from an anticipated route, resets the anticipateddestination without authorization, is notified, and continues leadingthe follower vehicle on a route away from the anticipated destinationwithout a proper response or providing clarification, the assistcomponent 180 of the follower vehicle or the help center 192 may inferthat the driver of the leader vehicle is acting with malicious intent oris not suitable as a leader. As a result, the assist component 180 orthe help center 192 may terminate the wireless tow relationship betweenthe two vehicles.

When the help center 192 initiates termination of leader/follower mode,the communication component 160 may receive a terminate follow modecommand from the help center 192 and the assist component 180 mayterminate or deactivate the tow accordingly. When the assist component180 of the follower vehicle determined malicious intent or that theleader vehicle has become unsuitable as a leader vehicle, thecommunication component 160 may report the leader vehicle to the helpcenter 192, thereby impacting the leader score for the correspondingleader vehicle.

As another example, if the sensor component 130 of the follower vehicledetects greater than a threshold number of obstacles or objects, such asobjects which prevent the follower vehicle from moving, tailing, orfollowing the leader vehicle, the assist component 180 may terminate thewireless tow and revert the follower vehicle to emergency mode. If amanual cancel button provided by the interface component 170 is pressed,the assist component 180 may place the follower vehicle in normal mode.Further, once the wireless tow or leader/follower mode is terminated orcancelled, the follower vehicle and the leader vehicle may not beconsidered follower and leader vehicles at that point, but instead aspotential follower or potential leader vehicles.

In one or more embodiments, the assist component 180 may combine one ormore emergency response actions or perform respective actions in asimultaneous or concurrent matter, such as by providing one or moreautomated driving actions to navigate to a first destination where aleader vehicle may meet the vehicle in order to tow the vehicle as afollower vehicle to a second destination, such as a hospital or medicalfacility. The navigation component 140 or the help center 192 mayarrange or determine a meeting point for the vehicle (e.g., to becomethe follower vehicle) and a potential leader vehicle (e.g., to becomethe leader vehicle), such as using one or more global positioning unit(GPS) algorithms, or based on a status of an occupant, healthinformation associated with an occupant, etc. In this way, vehicleoperation assistance may be provided quickly because both vehicles maybe moving toward a common meeting point, thereby shortening the distanceeach vehicle needs to travel in order for assistance, such as medicalattention, to be provided.

In one or more embodiments, one or more of the automated driving actionsor operating actions implemented, executed, or provided by the assistcomponent 180 may include an automatic lane change action or beimplemented in an autonomous fashion. For example, this automatic lanechange action may be provided in response to or based on a detectedobject or obstacle. Objects or obstacles may be detected by the sensorcomponent 130 of the vehicle or a sensor unit 132 of another vehicle.That other vehicle may upload information related to the object to adatabase, which may be accessed by the vehicle or the other vehicle maytransmit information related to the object directly to the vehicle viaV2V communications or DSRC, for example.

This type of hazard or object mitigation or avoidance may be utilized oremployed during an emergency stop maneuver, while a follower vehicle isin follower mode, while a vehicle is in leader mode, while a vehicle isperforming one or more autonomous driving actions, employing lane keepfunctionality, etc. Further, hazard or object mitigation or avoidancemay be employed by one or more vehicles which are not necessarily in aleader/follower relationship (e.g., although vehicles in aleader/follower relationship may utilize or employ such avoidance in oneor more embodiments). In this way, an assist component 180 may utilizeV2V communications or other communications, such as cloud communicationsto receive information or to detect and inform drivers of objects orobstacles in the roadway, or react accordingly, such as by providing avisual notification or a real time image of the object, including lanelevel detail location information, or by performing an automatic lanechange.

In one or more embodiments, a first vehicle equipped with a system, suchas a system 100 for vehicle operation assistance may facilitate thebuilding of a hazard database. The hazard database may be a database ofone or more hazards, objects, obstacles, etc. detected by a plurality ofvehicles. Objects or hazards may be detected or determined by a vehicle(e.g., such as the first vehicle) in a variety of ways. For example, asensor unit 132 of a first vehicle may include an image capture unitwhich continuously captures images of the surrounding environment,including one or more potential objects or hazards. When a predeterminedor predefined operating action is detected by the operation unit 122,such as a hard brake, sudden swerve or change in steering, etc., animage of a corresponding object may be captured by the sensor unit 132.Thus, images which were previously captured (e.g., due to the continuouscapture) may be utilized and hazards may be extracted or identifiedaccordingly.

Examples of predetermined or predefined operating actions associatedwith defining an object as a hazard for capture or upload to the hazarddatabase may include excessive steering inputs, excessive braking over athreshold limit, actuation of the brake pedal, a panic maneuver, orthreshold changes in steering angle, etc. As a result of one or more ofthese predetermined or predefined operating actions, the sensor unit 132may extract images or media of corresponding objects or objectsassociated with such operating actions.

Further, sensor unit 132 and/or the navigation unit 142 may identify orgather lane level information associated with the object. For example,the sensor unit 132 may recognize lane markings on the roadway inconjunction with map data from the navigation unit 142 to identify orpinpoint a lane associated with an object or a hazard. In this way, thesensor unit 132 and/or the navigation unit 142 may determine a lanelevel location associated with an object.

Further, the sensor unit 132 may perform one or more transforms toestimate coordinates of the object or hazard based on a camera angleassociated with the sensor unit 132, a pose of the first vehicle,relative size of the object in a captured image, distance of the objectfrom the first vehicle, etc. In any event, the sensor unit 132 maydetermine an object is present, poses a risk, define the object as ahazard, and store associated lane level location information and animage of the hazard.

When an object is confirmed by the sensor unit 132 (e.g., or via aprompt rendered by the interface unit 172), images or media of theobject and corresponding coordinate or location information may betransmitted. In one or more embodiments, a communication unit 162 of thefirst vehicle may transmit one or more images of one or more hazardsdirectly to one or more other vehicles (e.g., second vehicle, thirdvehicle, vehicles within a predetermined area or radius of the firstvehicle, vehicles approaching the hazard, etc.).

In other embodiments, the communication unit 162 of the first vehiclemay transmit such images to a hazard database. In this way, thecommunication unit 162 of the first vehicle may notify other vehicles ofthe object as a hazard. In one or more embodiments, the interface unit172 of the first vehicle may display or render one or more images of oneor more hazards prior to uploading respective images to the hazardsdatabase or transmitting respective images to other vehicles untilconfirmation is provided by the driver of the first vehicle. In otherembodiments, no confirmation is required.

A navigation component 140 of a second vehicle may provide a hazarddatabase with a current location of the vehicle to lookup hazards in thearea. As an example, the sensor component 130 may be utilized tosupplement the navigation component 140 with the lane level location ofthe vehicle.

The communication component 160 of the second vehicle may receive hazardinformation or images associated with one or more hazards within apredefined area, such as a radius or boundary around the second vehicle.This information may be received from a hazard database or directly froma first vehicle in the area via V2V communications. In one or moreembodiments, the communication component 160 may receive images or mediaof hazards located in a direction in which the second vehicle istravelling. Further, the communication component 160 may receive lanelevel location information associated with respective hazards.

Upon determination that a hazard or object exists (e.g., as determinedby the communication received from the hazard database or from anothervehicle as a ‘reported hazard’) in a lane of travel of the secondvehicle (or within a threshold distance to the second vehicle), one ormore response actions may be generated by the assist component 180 andan image of the hazard may be rendered for the driver of the secondvehicle. In other words, the assist component 180 may perform lane levelmatching to determine whether the vehicle is in the same lane as anupcoming reported hazard. Further, the assist component 180 may utilizethis information to generate one or more response actions or drivingactions, such as to switch from a current lane (e.g., associated withthe same lane as a hazard) to a different lane which is not associatedwith an upcoming hazard.

The interface component 170 of the second vehicle may render an image ofthe hazard or media associated with the hazard as the second vehicleapproaches the hazard. This image may be rendered such that lane leveldetail is shown, such as by providing a portion or zoomed portion of theimage of the hazard. In this way, the interface component 170 of thesecond vehicle may inform or notify the driver of the second vehicle ofone or more objects which pose a risk and have been identified ashazards such that the second vehicle has at least a threshold amount oftime to react to the hazard, thereby acting as an early warning systemor an advance notification system.

In one or more embodiments, vehicle components, such as the interfacecomponent 170 or the operation component 120 may be utilized to providea notification to the driver of the second vehicle, such as byilluminating LEDs while rendering an image of the hazard on the displayportion of the interface component 170 of the second vehicle. If thesecond vehicle is engaged in a lane keep mode (e.g., a mode where thevehicle is intended to maintain travel in a single or same lane), theinterface component 170 or operation component 120 may provide anotification or suggestion to change lanes. For example, lights may beflashed on the dash of the vehicle, an audio notification may be playedback, LEDs may be illuminated, the suggestion may be rendered on a headsup display, etc.

A driver or occupant of a vehicle may accept or decline the suggestedlane change using one or more vehicle components, such as the interfacecomponent 170 or the operation component 120. In one or moreembodiments, the interface component 170 may render an accept lanechange button on the display portion. In other embodiments, the drivermay accept the suggested lane change by activating the turn signal inthe direction of the suggested lane change. In embodiments where asecond vehicle is following a first vehicle in a wireless or virtual towscenario (e.g., respective vehicles are in leader/follower mode), turnsignal actuation or other confirmation may not be required, therebyenabling the tailing or trailing vehicle in follower mode to perform anautomated lane change and continue smooth driving without interruptionsor requiring confirmation.

Regardless, in some embodiments, the operation component 120, such asthe turn signal, may be used in response to a suggested lane change oran automatic lane change suggestion. The suggested lane changenotification (e.g., or associated notifications) may be presented,rendered, or played until the hazard is passed or until the drivermanually changes lanes or takes other driving action or operatingaction, such as braking, steering, etc.

The assist component 180 may implement the lane change suggestion as adriving action accordingly, such as in response to confirmation of alane change suggestion, thereby providing appropriate steering inanticipation of an object or a hazard reported by another vehicle. Inother words, the assist component 180 may navigate a vehicle around ahazard to mitigate damage to the vehicle and/or object which is thehazard. In this way, the second vehicle may be provided with sufficienttime or a larger margin to react to the reported hazard and make asmoother automatic lane change.

In one or more embodiments, the assist component 180 may adjust one ormore adaptive cruise control (ACC) settings, such as by turning asensitivity level of the ACC up or by increasing a following distancebetween a vehicle and another vehicle in front of the vehicle based on acommunication that a hazard is a threshold distance ahead, such as ahalf mile, for example. Thus, when another vehicle alerts the secondvehicle about a hazard, a following distance or a safety margin distancemay be increased or adjusted by the assist component 180 because it maybe likely that other vehicles in the vicinity of the hazard may travelslowly, brake suddenly, change direction of travel, etc.

In this way, the assist component 180 may compensate for other vehiclesnear a hazard when the hazard is reported (e.g., via the communicationcomponent 160 from a hazard database or from other vehicles via V2V orDSRC). In one or more embodiments, the assist component 180 may maximizethe distance setting for the safety margin distance to promote safedriving, thereby permitting for more reaction time to account for theobject or hazard and other vehicle's reaction to the hazard.

In one or more embodiments, a sensor component 130 of a second vehiclemay be utilized to verify, cross-check, or reference the existence orthe location of a hazard from the hazard database. If no hazard is foundor detected based on inputs from the operation component 120 or thesensor component 130 of the second vehicle or one or moreinconsistencies are found in that one or more hazards reported could notbe verified by the sensor component 130, the communication component 160of the second vehicle may transmit a signal to the hazard databaseindicating that the hazard is no longer present.

In one or more embodiments, multiple vehicles may be utilized to verifythe existence or absence of a hazard prior to updating the hazarddatabase. Thus, when a threshold number of vehicles pass the allegedhazard location without incident, such as a manual lane change or thesensor component 130 detecting the hazard, the hazard database mayremove an entry corresponding to that hazard. In other embodiments, thehazard database may be updated or hazards automatically removed after apredetermined length of time after detection of the hazard or entry ofthe hazard in the hazard database.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of an example flow diagram of a method 200 forvehicle operation assistance, according to one or more embodiments. At210, an occupant of a vehicle or automobile may be monitored. Forexample, vital signs of the occupant may be recorded. Based onrespective vital sign information, a status of the occupant may bedetermined to indicate whether the occupant is experiencing anemergency. If an emergency is determined, a request for help may betransmitted 220 based on the occupant status and the vehicleautomatically stopped. Emergency response vehicles, such as a potentialleader vehicle may arrive at the scene. The potential leader vehicle maytransmit a “follow me” request to the vehicle. According to one or moreaspects, verification of the potential leader vehicle may beimplemented. Regardless, when the “follow me” request is accepted (e.g.,either automatically through help center assistance or via one or morevehicle components or manually via an interface of the vehicle andoccupant approval), the vehicle may enter or enable follower mode 240.

In follower mode, the vehicle may establish a connection, such as awireless connection, with the leader vehicle (e.g., previously apotential leader vehicle when the “follow me” request was still pendingor not yet accepted). Using this wireless connection or connection, thevehicle may perform autonomous ‘following’ or be ‘wirelessly towed’ bythe now leader vehicle. According to one or more aspects, hazardmitigation may be performed using one or more sensors one the vehicleitself or preemptively avoiding hazards detected by sensors of othervehicles (e.g., which may include, but are not necessarily the leadervehicle).

FIGS. 3A-3C are illustrations of an example scenario where a system ormethod for vehicle operation assistance may be employed, according toone or more embodiments. In FIG. 3A, at 310A, a vehicle 302 associatedwith an occupant experiencing an emergency may automatically stop orperform an automatic stop maneuver and broadcast an SOS signal. In FIG.3B, at 320B, the vehicle 302 may render an estimated help arrival time.Vehicle 304 may arrive and connect with vehicle 302, thus providingwireless towing. In FIG. 3C, at 330C, vehicle 304 may wirelessly tow thevehicle 302. Vehicle 304 may be in leader mode and vehicle 302 may be infollower mode.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of an example scenario 400 where a system ormethod for vehicle operation assistance may be employed, according toone or more embodiments. At 410, a first vehicle 404 may be equippedwith a system for vehicle operation assistance and a second vehicle 402may be equipped with a system for vehicle operation assistance. Thesecond vehicle 402 may be travelling along a roadway or through anoperation environment. If an occupant of the second vehicle 402experiences an emergency, the second vehicle 402 may automatically pullover at 410 and transmit a request for a leader vehicle. Upon receivingsuch a request, the first vehicle 404 (e.g., potential leader vehicle)may travel to a location associated with the second vehicle 402, as seenat 420.

At 420, the first vehicle 404 may transmit a “follow me” request to thesecond vehicle 402 to wirelessly connect with the second vehicle 402.Upon establishing such a connection, the second vehicle 402 mayeffectively have control over the first vehicle 404. Accordingly, at430, the first vehicle 404 may initiate wireless towing of the secondvehicle. Here, the first vehicle 404 may be a leader vehicle in leadermode and the second vehicle 402 may be a follower vehicle in followermode.

At 440, the first vehicle 404 or the second vehicle 402 may terminatethe wireless tow or leader/follower mode upon arrival at an agreeddestination, such as a medical facility 490.

FIG. 5 is an illustration of an example scenario 500 where a system ormethod for vehicle operation assistance may be employed, according toone or more embodiments. In FIG. 5, a first vehicle 590 may betravelling along a roadway. For example, the roadway may include one ormore lanes of travel, such as a first lane of travel A and a second laneof travel B. Upon detection of an object or hazard 510, the firstvehicle 590 may capture an image of the hazard 510 and determine a lanelevel location for the hazard 510. In this example, the hazard 510 isassociated with lane A. The first vehicle 590 may transmit an image ofthe hazard 510 and lane level information associated with the hazard510.

In one or more embodiments, the first vehicle 590 may transmit thisinformation or image to a database or server 592, which may record orstore this image and lane level location information. The server 592 orthe first vehicle 590 may identify the hazard 510. In other embodiments,the first vehicle 590 may transmit the image or information directly toa second vehicle 500A.

A second vehicle 500A may receive an image of the hazard 510 as well ascorresponding lane level location information for the hazard 510 (e.g.,indicating that the hazard is located in lane A) based on a proximity tothe reported hazard 510, a direction of travel of the second vehicle500A, etc. Here, in this example, because the second vehicle 500A istravelling in lane A, the second vehicle 500A may perform an automaticlane change to lane B, as seen at 500B, for example. Further, the secondvehicle 500A may render an image of the hazard at 520.

In one or more embodiments, the second vehicle 500A may perform theautomatic lane change to be in the position shown at 500B based on thesecond vehicle employing a lane keep assist function at 500A. Accordingto one or more aspects, the second vehicle 500A may request permissionto change lanes, as seen at 520, indicated with an arrow, for example.Here, the driver may actuate one or more operation components of thevehicle to accept, permit, or deny such as proposed lane change. Here,for example, the driver of the second vehicle 500A may actuate the leftturn switch to approve the automated lane change.

Further, the rendering of the image of the hazard and proposed lanechange at 520 may be automatically dismissed if the driver of the secondvehicle 500A takes manual action to brake, change lanes, etc. In thisway, a first vehicle may provide a second vehicle with an early warningnotice to facilitate an automatic or automated operation response ordriving action, such as an automatic lane change. Further, the firstvehicle may also provide the second vehicle with an image of the objectso that the driver of the second vehicle may make a more informeddecision in that regard.

FIG. 6 is an illustration of an example flow diagram of a method 600 forvehicle operation assistance, according to one or more embodiments. Inone or more embodiments, the method 600 merely includes 610, 620, and630. In other embodiments, the method 600 may merely include 640 and650. For example, the method 600 may be for building a database of oneor more images of one or more hazards and corresponding lane levellocation data or information associated therewith. According to otheraspects, the method may be for using an already constructed database toperform or implement hazard mitigation. In one or more embodiments, afirst vehicle may detect an object at 610. The vehicle may determinethat the object is a hazard. At 620, the first vehicle may capture animage of the hazard and determine or record lane level locationinformation associated with that hazard. For example, lane markings,GPS, or PnP algorithms may be utilized or implemented to determine thelane level location of an object or hazard. At 630, media or an image ofthe hazard as well as corresponding location information may be uploadedor transmitted. This information may be transmitted or uploaded to ahazard database or directly to one or more other vehicles in the area,such as within a predetermined radius or boundary of the first vehicle.In one or more embodiments, such as in embodiments where transmission isperformed directly to other vehicles, the transmission may be based on adirection of travel of the other vehicles. In other words, the firstvehicle may transmit respective images or information merely to vehiclestravelling towards a detected hazard.

At 640, a second vehicle may receive an image of the hazard reported bythe first vehicle. As discussed, this image and lane level locationinformation may be received direction from a communication unit of thefirst vehicle or from a hazard database. The second vehicle may receivethis information based on a general location of the second vehicle,which may be provided by a GPS unit for the second vehicle. Further, thesecond vehicle may receive this image or information based on adirection of travel of the second vehicle. For example, if the secondvehicle is travelling in a direction towards the reported hazard, thencorresponding image or location information may be received. In anyevent, after the image or location information of the reported hazard isreceived, the second vehicle may perform lane level matching todetermine a current lane location or lane position for the secondvehicle. If this lane level matching determined that the second vehicleis in the same lane as the reported obstacle, corrective action may betaken 650 based on the lane position of the second vehicle, one or moreavailable lanes, a current traffic situation, other detected obstacles,a contour of the roadway, etc.

Still another embodiment involves a computer-readable medium includingprocessor-executable instructions configured to implement one or moreembodiments of the techniques presented herein. An embodiment of acomputer-readable medium or a computer-readable device devised in theseways is illustrated in FIG. 7, wherein an implementation 700 includes acomputer-readable medium 708, such as a CD-R, DVD-R, flash drive, aplatter of a hard disk drive, etc., on which is encodedcomputer-readable data 706. This encoded computer-readable data 706,such as binary data including a plurality of zero's and one's as shownin 706, in turn includes a set of processor-executable computerinstructions 704 configured to operate according to one or more of theprinciples set forth herein. In one such embodiment 700, theprocessor-executable computer instructions 704 may be configured toperform a method 702, such as the method 200 of FIG. 2. In anotherembodiment, the processor-executable computer instructions 704 may beconfigured to implement a system, such as the system 100 of FIG. 1. Manysuch computer-readable media may be devised by those of ordinary skillin the art that are configured to operate in accordance with thetechniques presented herein.

As used in this application, the terms “component”, “module,” “system”,“interface”, and the like are generally intended to refer to acomputer-related entity, either hardware, a combination of hardware andsoftware, software, or software in execution. For example, a componentmay be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, aprocessor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program,or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on acontroller and the controller may be a component. One or more componentsresiding within a process or thread of execution and a component may belocalized on one computer or distributed between two or more computers.

Further, the claimed subject matter is implemented as a method,apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming orengineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware, or anycombination thereof to control a computer to implement the disclosedsubject matter. The term “article of manufacture” as used herein isintended to encompass a computer program accessible from anycomputer-readable device, carrier, or media. Of course, manymodifications may be made to this configuration without departing fromthe scope or spirit of the claimed subject matter.

FIG. 8 and the following discussion provide a description of a suitablecomputing environment to implement embodiments of one or more of theprovisions set forth herein. The operating environment of FIG. 8 ismerely one example of a suitable operating environment and is notintended to suggest any limitation as to the scope of use orfunctionality of the operating environment. Example computing devicesinclude, but are not limited to, personal computers, server computers,hand-held or laptop devices, mobile devices, such as mobile phones,Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), media players, and the like,multiprocessor systems, consumer electronics, mini computers, mainframecomputers, distributed computing environments that include any of theabove systems or devices, etc.

Generally, embodiments are described in the general context of “computerreadable instructions” being executed by one or more computing devices.Computer readable instructions may be distributed via computer readablemedia as will be discussed below. Computer readable instructions may beimplemented as program modules, such as functions, objects, ApplicationProgramming Interfaces (APIs), data structures, and the like, thatperform one or more tasks or implement one or more abstract data types.Typically, the functionality of the computer readable instructions arecombined or distributed as desired in various environments.

FIG. 8 illustrates a system 800 including a computing device 812configured to implement one or more embodiments provided herein. In oneconfiguration, computing device 812 includes at least one processingunit 816 and memory 818. Depending on the exact configuration and typeof computing device, memory 818 may be volatile, such as RAM,non-volatile, such as ROM, flash memory, etc., or a combination of thetwo. This configuration is illustrated in FIG. 8 by dashed line 814.

In other embodiments, computing device 812 includes additional featuresor functionality. For example, computing device 812 may includeadditional storage such as removable storage or non-removable storage,including, but not limited to, magnetic storage, optical storage, etc.Such additional storage is illustrated in FIG. 8 by storage 820. In oneor more embodiments, computer readable instructions to implement one ormore embodiments provided herein are in storage 820. Storage 820 maystore other computer readable instructions to implement an operatingsystem, an application program, etc. Computer readable instructions maybe loaded in memory 818 for execution by processing unit 816, forexample.

The term “computer readable media” as used herein includes computerstorage media. Computer storage media includes volatile and nonvolatile,removable and non-removable media implemented in any method ortechnology for storage of information such as computer readableinstructions or other data. Memory 818 and storage 820 are examples ofcomputer storage media. Computer storage media includes, but is notlimited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology,CD-ROM, Digital Versatile Disks (DVDs) or other optical storage,magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or othermagnetic storage devices, or any other medium which may be used to storethe desired information and which may be accessed by computing device812. Any such computer storage media is part of computing device 812.

The term “computer readable media” includes communication media.Communication media typically embodies computer readable instructions orother data in a “modulated data signal” such as a carrier wave or othertransport mechanism and includes any information delivery media. Theterm “modulated data signal” includes a signal that has one or more ofits characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encodeinformation in the signal.

Computing device 812 includes input device(s) 824 such as keyboard,mouse, pen, voice input device, touch input device, infrared cameras,video input devices, or any other input device. Output device(s) 822such as one or more displays, speakers, printers, or any other outputdevice may be included with computing device 812. Input device(s) 824and output device(s) 822 may be connected to computing device 812 via awired connection, wireless connection, or any combination thereof. Inone or more embodiments, an input device or an output device fromanother computing device may be used as input device(s) 824 or outputdevice(s) 822 for computing device 812. Computing device 812 may includecommunication connection(s) 826 to facilitate communications with one ormore other devices.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features or methodological acts, it is to be understood thatthe subject matter of the appended claims is not necessarily limited tothe specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specificfeatures and acts described above are disclosed as example embodiments.

Various operations of embodiments are provided herein. The order inwhich one or more or all of the operations are described should not beconstrued as to imply that these operations are necessarily orderdependent. Alternative ordering will be appreciated based on thisdescription. Further, not all operations may necessarily be present ineach embodiment provided herein.

As used in this application, “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or”rather than an exclusive “or”. Further, an inclusive “or” may includeany combination thereof (e.g., A, B, or any combination thereof). Inaddition, “a” and “an” as used in this application are generallyconstrued to mean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear fromcontext to be directed to a singular form. Additionally, at least one ofA and B and/or the like generally means A or B or both A and B. Further,to the extent that “includes”, “having”, “has”, “with”, or variantsthereof are used in either the detailed description or the claims, suchterms are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term“comprising”.

Further, unless specified otherwise, “first”, “second”, or the like arenot intended to imply a temporal aspect, a spatial aspect, an ordering,etc. Rather, such terms are merely used as identifiers, names, etc. forfeatures, elements, items, etc. For example, a first channel and asecond channel generally correspond to channel A and channel B or twodifferent or two identical channels or the same channel. Additionally,“comprising”, “comprises”, “including”, “includes”, or the likegenerally means comprising or including, but not limited to.

It will be appreciated that various of the above-disclosed and otherfeatures and functions, or alternatives or varieties thereof, may bedesirably combined into many other different systems or applications.Also that various presently unforeseen or unanticipated alternatives,modifications, variations or improvements therein may be subsequentlymade by those skilled in the art which are also intended to beencompassed by the following claims.

1. A system for vehicle operation assistance comprising: a processingunit; and a memory, storing processor-executable instructions, whichwhen executed by the processing unit, perform: automaticallytransmitting a request for help based on an emergency status of anoccupant of a vehicle; receiving a “follow me” request from a potentialleader vehicle in response to the request for help; placing the systemin a follower mode based on an acceptance of the “follow me” requestreceived from the occupant of the vehicle via a vehicle interface byestablishing a connection with the potential leader vehicle, wherein infollower mode the vehicle is a follower vehicle and the potential leadervehicle is a leader vehicle; wirelessly receiving a navigationinstruction from the leader vehicle; and executing a driving maneuver inan autonomous fashion based on the navigation instruction from theleader vehicle.
 2. The system for vehicle operation assistance of claim1, wherein the emergency status of the occupant of the vehicle isdetermined by the processing unit based on a body temperature, a pulse,a pulse rate, a respiration rate, a perspiration rate, a blood pressure,eye movement, body movement, head movement, or carbon dioxide output ofthe occupant of the vehicle.
 3. The system for vehicle operationassistance of claim 1, wherein the emergency status of the occupant ofthe vehicle is determined by the processing unit based on an absence ofoperating actions from the occupant of the vehicle and an expectedoperating action.
 4. The system for vehicle operation assistance ofclaim 1, wherein the processing unit initiates communication with a helpcenter based on the emergency status of the occupant.
 5. The system forvehicle operation assistance of claim 1, wherein the processing unitimplements an emergency response action based on the emergency status ofthe occupant.
 6. The system for vehicle operation assistance of claim 5,wherein the emergency response action includes automatically pulling thevehicle over via one or more automated driving maneuvers, automaticallyengaging hazard lights of the vehicle, or automatically navigating to ameeting location via one or more automated driving maneuvers.
 7. Thesystem for vehicle operation assistance of claim 1, wherein theconnection between the follower vehicle and the leader vehicle isestablished based on vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communications, vehicle tomotorcycle (V2M) communications, vehicle to cloud communications,dedicated short range communications (DSRC), or a cellular network. 8.The system for vehicle operation assistance of claim 1, wherein theprocessing unit transmits a location of the follower vehicle, a drivingmaneuver to be executed by the follower vehicle, an anticipated route,an anticipated destination, or a vehicle parameter of the followervehicle to a third party.
 9. The system for vehicle operation assistanceof claim 8, wherein the third party or the processing unit of thefollower vehicle generate a leader score for the leader vehicle based onthe leader vehicle's interactions with the follower vehicle.
 10. Thesystem for vehicle operation assistance of claim 1, wherein theprocessing unit transmits a request to the leader vehicle to wait forthe follower vehicle based on an obstacle.
 11. The system for vehicleoperation assistance of claim 10, wherein the processing unit places thesystem in an emergency mode and terminates the connection with theleader vehicle based on no response to the request to wait for thefollower vehicle from the leader vehicle.
 12. The system for vehicleoperation assistance of claim 1, wherein the acceptance of the “followme” request is based on a leader score associated with the leadervehicle indicative of the potential leader vehicle's previousinteractions with other follower vehicles.
 13. The system for vehicleoperation assistance of claim 1, wherein there is a fee arrangementbetween the leader vehicle and the follower vehicle.
 14. The system forvehicle operation assistance of claim 1, wherein the leader vehicle isequipped with another system for vehicle operation assistance.
 15. Asystem for vehicle operation assistance comprising: a processing unit;and a memory, storing processor-executable instructions, which whenexecuted by the processing unit, perform: receiving a request for helpbased on an emergency status of an occupant of a potential followervehicle; transmitting a “follow me” request to the potential followervehicle in response to the request for help; placing the system in aleader mode based on an acceptance of the “follow me” request receivedfrom the occupant of the potential follower vehicle via a vehicleinterface of the potential follower vehicle by establishing a connectionwith the potential follower vehicle, wherein in leader mode, a vehicleequipped with the system for vehicle operation assistance is a leadervehicle and the potential follower vehicle is a follower vehicle; andexecuting a driving maneuver and wirelessly transmitting a navigationinstruction to the follower vehicle which causes execution of acorresponding driving maneuver on the follower vehicle in an autonomousfashion.
 16. The system for vehicle operation assistance of claim 15,wherein the follower vehicle is equipped with another system for vehicleoperation assistance.
 17. A method for vehicle operation assistancecomprising: automatically transmitting, using a transmitter, a requestfor help based on an emergency status of an occupant of a vehicle;receiving, using a receiver, a “follow me” request from a potentialleader vehicle in response to the request for help; placing the vehiclein a follower mode, using a processing unit, based on an acceptance ofthe “follow me” request received via help center assistance byestablishing a connection with the potential leader vehicle, wherein infollower mode the vehicle is a follower vehicle and the potential leadervehicle is a leader vehicle; wirelessly receiving, using the receiver, anavigation instruction from the leader vehicle; and executing a drivingmaneuver in an autonomous fashion, using the processing unit, based onthe navigation instruction from the leader vehicle.
 18. The method forvehicle operation assistance of claim 17, comprising determining, usingthe processing unit, the emergency status of the occupant of the vehiclebased on a body temperature, a pulse, a pulse rate, a respiration rate,a perspiration rate, a blood pressure, eye movement, body movement, headmovement, or carbon dioxide output of the occupant of the vehicle. 19.The method for vehicle operation assistance of claim 18, wherein thebody temperature, the pulse, the pulse rate, the respiration rate, theperspiration rate, the blood pressure, the eye movement, the bodymovement, the head movement, or the carbon dioxide output of theoccupant are detected by a sensor.
 20. The method for vehicle operationassistance of claim 17, comprising determining, using the processingunit, the emergency status of the occupant of the vehicle based on anabsence of operating actions from the occupant of the vehicle and anexpected operating action.